As Kasumi and Nodoka brought in dinner the family knelt down around the table, along with their guest, except for the fathers trying to finish up their game of shogi before dinner started. Miyo was once again presentable, having washed off the sweat from her run and dressed in a change of clothes she’d had in her backpack, but that hadn’t changed her haunted look, or the way she kept glancing at the doorway and windows as if expecting something to come smashing through at any moment. Ranma and Akane both noticed, and with an exchange of glances and nods sat on each side of her and tried to distract her with talk of school, being rewarded by seeing some of the fear ease from her eyes and posture.
As Kasumi brought in the last of the food, she glanced over at a distracted Nabiki and frowned. “Nabiki,” she scolded, “it is impolite to wear headphones at the table during dinner with just family, much less when a guest is present.”
Nabiki, her attention returned the dinner table and those around it, simply looked coolly at her older sister. “Relax, sis, I’m just listening for any news that might come up.”
Without looking up from the game board, Soun asked, “So you believe her?”
Trying for a nonchalant look, Nabiki said offhandedly, “No, not really. But she does have quite a reputation among the younger students at school, and we’ve seen some pretty weird stuff, so who knows? No reason not to be careful.”
Kasumi continued to frown for a moment then, as Nodoka chivvied the fathers over to the table, sighed and nodded. “Very well, I’ll say no more — this time.”
Dinner progressed as normal, except for the lack of the usual food-eating contest between Ranma and Genma on account of their guest (Nodoka having had the foresight to keep Genma from sitting next to Ranma and squelching the least hint of Genma making the extra effort needed to reach across the table), until Nabiki suddenly halted her conversation about household finances with Kasumi in mid-sentence. Her sudden stop immediately gained the attention of everyone around the table, as Miyso stiffened and looked around fearfully.
For a few minutes nobody said anything as Nabiki simply stared into space as she listened to her radio, until finally Akane asked, “Well?”
Nabiki jerked, then looked around. “Something strange is going on at Nantucket,” she said, still listening.
When nothing more followed, Akane growled, “And where’s Nantucket?”
“Oh, sorry,” Nabiki said distractedly. “It’s an island off the coast of Massachusetts — northeast coast of the United States,” she added on realizing that most, if not all, of her listeners would have no idea where Massachusetts was.
Everyone except Miyo and Nabiki relaxed at that. Genma said heartily, “Well, if it’s that far away it has nothing to do with us.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Nabiki responded, still listening. “Whatever it is, nobody has ever seen anything like it. There’s a big dome of lights over the entire island, half a dozen colors, lightning going in all directions. The news channel has a direct feed from the US with a translator, and whoever the American reporter is, he’s beginning to sound panicky.”
Kasumi frowned and rose, walking toward the TV set. She was just reaching for the power button when abruptly a massive spike of pain seem to strike between her eyes and reverberate through her brain as her vision vanished in a burst of blinding white light, then returned in an instant without any afterimage. The pain disappeared just as suddenly and completely, and she found herself falling toward the TV set dimly visible in the light of the full moon coming through the window.
Catching herself on the TV, Kasumi turned around to find her family rising, hands coming away from their eyes and looking around in the gloom. “Is everyone all right,” she asked concernedly, then relaxed at the chorus of affirmatives. Turning back to the TV, she pushed the power button and frowned as nothing happened, then looked around at the room's darkness and chuckled at her own behavior — the fuse had blown, of course the TV wasn’t working. Turning around again, she called out, “Nabiki, with the fuse tripped the TV’s out, what’s the radio news announcer saying about Nan ... Nantucket?”
Nabiki frowned. “Nothing, my radio quit.”
Akane, one arm around a shaking Miyo, pointed to the window with her other hand. “It wasn’t just the fuse or your radio, the street lights are out.”
Everyone followed her finger to the outside darkness relieved only by moonlight, and Nodoka nodded. “Are the candles and flashlight still in the cupboard above the sink?” At Kasumi’s agreement she rose and carefully made her way out of the room while Kasumi started cleaning up the food spilled when everyone had reacted to the flash of light as best she could in the moonlight from the windows.
As all the rest except Miyo started discussing what had happened, Nabiki followed Nodoka out of the family room but bypassed the kitchen and headed on toward the entrance to the street. Looking both ways down the darkened street, she frowned at the complete lack of any light at all then looked up at the night sky. Wow, look at all those stars, amazing how much the city lights drown out, she thought absentmindedly as thoughts of the oddities of what had just happened nagged at her — she was missing something ... then she had it. When I took my hands down from my eyes, so was everyone else, she thought, including the ones facing away from the window!
She started turning to go back into the house, when a dark patch moving rapidly across the sky caught her attention. There were no lights, but it was shaped like an airliner — and it was coming down awfully fast ... then her view was cut off by the roofs of the house across the street and a huge ball of flame erupted in its place.
Back in the family room, the rehashing of events and useless speculation was interrupted by Nodoka’s return, preceded by the light from the candle in her hand. Kasumi looked up from where she knelt. “Wasn’t the flashlight there?” she asked.
Nodoka nodded assent. “Yes it was, but it wouldn’t turn on.”
“Oh my, I must have forgotten to check the batteries,” Kasumi apologized, but Akane frowned.
“You didn’t, you had me check them just last week, along with the batteries in the fire alarm,” she asserted, and Kasumi nodded.
“Yes, I did. Are you sure you didn’t just miss the flashlight when you checked the rest?” she asked.
“Yes,” Akane said firmly, “you gave me a list and it was the ... second item from the top.”
Kasumi started to apologize for doubting her youngest sister, when she was interrupted by an enormous whump! like she’d never heard before, and a split second later she felt the ground shake beneath her feet and heard the windows rattle slightly like a minor earthquake.
“What was that!?” Soun half-shouted, looking around. He was getting a chorus of ‘I don’t know’s in response, when Nabiki bounced off the corridor wall and ricocheted into the room.
“An airliner just crashed down there and blew up!” she shouted, pointing toward the street, and turned and rushed back out the doorway, immediately followed by everyone else in the house. They quickly joined her in the street outside, staring at the leaping flames visible in the distance over the roof of the house across the street.
“Are ya sure it was an airplane?” Ranma asked, and Nabiki turned on him with a snarl.
“Of course I’m sure!” she shouted. “I saw it crash! It ... it must have just taken off, it had to have a full load of fuel for a fireball like that ...” She turned back to the view of the fire, clenching her fists. “Where are the sirens? There should be at least some emergency vehicles reacting by now!”
Suddenly, Miyo’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh no! That ... that’s where home is!” Then she was off running, even faster then she had been that afternoon without her full backpack, headed toward the corner of the street in the direction of the flames.
Nabiki slumped slightly. “Oh damn!” she muttered, then glanced up at a shellshocked Ranma and Akane standing beside her. “Well, what are you waiting for?” she shouted, “Go with her!”
The two turned stunned eyes toward her, and Akane stuttered, “B-But ... what about everyone here?”
Nabiki laughed harshly. “There’s Dad and Genma, and Auntie Nodoka has her sword. They may not be up to Ranma’s ... or your standards,” she added as Akane’s eyes hardened, “but we’ll be better defended than pretty much everyone else around. Now go!”
The two hesitated for a moment longer then, at the middle sister’s shove, ran across the street and took to the rooftops in pursuit of Miyo.
Nabiki turned back to those remaining. “Come on,” she snarled, “something’s very wrong here and we’d better check our supplies!”
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(Posted Mon, 27 Jul 2009 02:37)
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